The strange quest: Mathematics as Concrete Art
Is mathematics just a giant piece of constructive art?
Category Archive: Art
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Surfaces in 3 and 4 dimensions
I hope the title is not too confusing, given my previous posts on surfaces. The title of this post is also the title of a work of mine that I have mentioned here… Continue reading
Use of Mathematics and Hyperscopes
The new “Use of Mathematics” A-level has been hotly debated recently. I would like to start by saying that I agree that things need to be done on this topic. There are some… Continue reading
Unscheduled Post: The Silver Ratio
John Cook on The Endeavour has just mentioned the wonderful silver ratio. As this is probably my favourite number I can’t resist the chance to put up some pictures. The silver ratio: ,… Continue reading
How do shapes fill space?
One of my main activities at the moment is making toys and materials for an interactive tilings and geometry exhibit at the this year’s Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition. The title is above.… Continue reading
WoW 7: The secret life of numbers
Numbers are one hell of a powerful idea, and some idea of them seems to predate a lot of other intelligence traits. Even young chicks have some ability to count. (this story was… Continue reading
Interesting Manhole covers
Its been a busy week workwise, and so a slow week as far as the blog is concerned. So I give you some easily missed art. This is a job I would love,… Continue reading
Building Mathematics: Sculpture system No. 5
[Update 15/1/10: More pictures (in the snow!) now up] [Update 16/3/10: A second sculpture built in Newcastle] [Update 13/5/10: Volcanic background] Can you get children and young people to build mathematical scultptures in… Continue reading
WoW 4: Fractals
I am often a bit rude about fractal art. With the right software it becomes easy to create interesting, attractive, complicated images without much thought to what is happening. It is unfair but… Continue reading
Unscheduled Post: No Science without Fancy
A great post from Scott Aaronson on Shtetl-Optimized talking about rational literature, with the wonderful point that in many works that do mention science: the juvenile humor at the core of how science works will… Continue reading
WoW 1: Perspective Carpark
Without further ado, the first winner: Images of the Eureka Tower carpark in Melbourne. Axel Peemöller uses perspective drawing to create directions that are very large, yet only readable from the directions in which they… Continue reading
Surfaces 1: The ooze of the past
Curves and surfaces are a wonderful visual representation of mathematics. They can move from the simple and profound to the complex and intriguing. They have even been accused of being part of a sinister plot. In addition the mathematics behind them is becoming increasingly useful in many areas, algebraic statistics for example.